Finishing First

I’m so proud of my son. He’s smart, he’s hard working, he’s as nice as they come, he’s humble, he’s funny…I could continue, but I won’t. Last summer he decided he’d completely had his fill of working in the restaurant industry so took a huge leap, quit his job & went to school. He graduated on Wednesday, top of his class.

He now proudly holds 54 different welding certifications (CORRECTION – He has 59 certifications. Clearly I can’t remember anything.) He so impressed the teachers and owner of the welding school, they’ve offered him a full-time job there. It’s wonderful that more people appreciate how terrific he is.

Meanwhile, I did manage to get 13 placemats (1 extra, just in case) and a sample napkin woven. The auxiliary warp beam worked well, although I had to make some modifications from Sandra’s directions based on what I had on hand. I didn’t have a mailing tube, which weighs next to nothing, but I did have a tube from the end of a roll of newsprint from my local newspaper. The tube itself weighs at least 4 pounds, which was too heavy, putting too much tension on those extra 48 threads. I called my son to help me think through how to reduce the weight and we collectively came up with an idea – run a stiff piece of something through the tube (I had metal), tie strings to it, run those strings up over the beam and hang weights from the strings. The weights on those strings would take weight off the tube. I used 2 pounds, 1 on each end, and it worked for the entire 11.5 yard warp.

It sure looked pretty ugly, but fortunately I’m not judged on things like that, only on the final outcome. Now I’m working on the second warp for this project – no auxiliary beam needed – YAY! A dozen napkins & I’ll be done with the weaving itself for this order.

On a nature note, I don’t remember ever having as many deer in my yard as I have in the past few weeks. They’re hungry. This was such a bad year for tree fruits and nuts that there isn’t enough for deer, other mammals and turkey to eat. This afternoon I watched a deer eat my wintercreeper for over 1/2 hour. How many photos does it take before you can see her?

I don’t begrudge the deer the wintercreeper. It’s not a plant I much care for. I’d intended to do a severe trimming before winter, and now I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t know how much nutrition it has, but it is still green so hopefully can offer some food value.

Back to the loom!